Martin 000-10E Retro review: “it authentically distils everything that’s great about 000 guitars”
$999/£999, martinguitar.com
If, like me, you attend the NAMM Show every January, there are certain constants that you can always rely on. The queue for the food truck you want will always be just a bit too long to fit in lunch between appointments; there’s always a dude with a python round his neck in the Marriott bar after the show but nobody knows why, and the Martin booth is a chastening experience.
READ MORE: Martin Road Series D-10E Retro Sapele review: A stage-ready Martin at a seriously competitive price
The latter is perhaps more of a personal one. Like most right-thinking guitar players, I adore Martin guitars – some of the most inspirational and musical instruments I’ve ever had in my hands have been crafted by the good folks in Nazareth.
If you love Martin guitars, the brand’s cavernous booth is kinda like someone uprooted Disneyland from a couple of blocks down the street, and placed it in the middle of the Anaheim Convention Center. Dozens of the best and most exciting new instruments from the brand that pretty much invented the modern flat-top. It’s a cornucopia of excellence.
The thing that makes it so upsetting personally, however, is that most of the most captivating and exciting guitars are made in Nazareth and come with a price tag that is an entirely justified but serious investment beyond the means of many of us here in 2026.
When I walked into the booth for the 2026 edition of the show, my eye was caught by some beautiful vintage-style guitars hanging on one wall. With inviting aged tops and classic aesthetics, I was instantly drawn to them, picking one off the wall, I gave it a strum and made the face I usually make when an acoustic makes an impressive fist of G.
Usually, what happens next is that I take a look at the price tag, sigh and move on, but then I noticed the label inside said “Road Series”. This guitar that I’d been so impressed with on every level was in fact, less than a grand…
Image: Adam Gasson
Martin 000-10E Retro – what is it?
Martin’s Road Series has been a byword for acoustic guitar buck-banging for the best part of three decades. Unlike the X Series, which requires the buyer to make peace with various build and visual compromises to attain a guitar that says Martin on it for $700 bucks, the Road Series basically takes the recipe that they use back in Nazareth and does it more affordably in Mexico, and asks for a very reasonable upcharge for the privilege.
Historically, the key element to this has been the presence of all-solid wood construction throughout the instrument – there’s no high-pressure laminate to be found anywhere on these guitars, with the exception of the headstock fascia.
That’s big news for those of us who understand that solid-wood acoustics are more likely to improve their tone and volume as the wood dries out over time – something that you simply don’t get with a laminate guitar.
There was very little wrong with the old Road Series – I was personally rather taken with a Dread I reviewed a few years back – but for 2026 Martin has decided to refresh the range in a way that keeps much of the stuff everyone liked, while adding some new flourishes that make them even more compelling.
In the case of this Martin 000-10E Retro, the most notable change is hidden in the name. The “Retro” designation is reserved for the guitars in the Road Series range that are leaning into the classic vibe more than ever before.
In practical terms, that means that the solid spruce tops have been treated with aging toner (as pioneered in the Custom Shop) to make the tops a little darker, a little more caramel-y and a little more, well, old.
That vintage vibe is accentuated by a matt satin finish all over, while the solid sapele back and sides has been given a dark mahogany stain, while the black plastic binding and simple soundhole rosette are very spartan D-18, as are the simple pearloid dot markers. If you want a bit more ornamentation, the more expensive 000-12E and 13E offer more elements from 28 or 42 Style guitars respectively.
The “Road” in the name does imply these guitars are meant to be played out, and so that means you get the reliable Martin E1 preamp (with soundhole tuner) and a semi-rigid gig bag.
Image: Adam Gasson
Martin 000-10E Retro – build quality and playability
My first impression of the Retro guitars was of course a very positive one on the NAMM Show floor, so I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with one in the comforts of my own home, and first impressions upon pulling it out of the gig bag are broadly very positive.
The ageing toner really does make that spruce top look great – it seems to accentuate the grain somewhat, and is such a striking contrast to the slightly emaciated appearance that more affordable spruce-topped guitars can often present.
I’m less taken by the ebony fingerboard – it’s very light on this model compared to what you’d expect from a traditional ebony, and it’s the only visual thing that really makes it feel like a more affordable guitar.
Some people will probably love the more interesting striped appearance, however, and it’s obviously going to vary from guitar to guitar, as I’ve seen 000-10E guitars with more traditional, darker ebony appearance.
Image: Adam Gasson
Otherwise, it’s an extremely well put together guitar – the finishing and binding is flawless all over, the neck and body feel rock solid, and an internal inspection reveals some immaculately cut and finished bracing and kerfing.
The Select Hardwood neck is satin-finished and a nice transitional palmful – it’s not too big, but not slinky either. The slightly flattened D-shape of the High-Performance Taper neck is a fantastic companion for playing thumb-over cowboy chords, but the way it thins out as you move up the neck means it’s very comfortable when you’re putting your thumb on the back and trying something more ambitious.
The only real weak links in the chain are the open-gear tuners. For starters, I wish they’d simply gone for classic silver buttons instead of the cheapening ebony ones here – it really does break the ‘I’m playing a proper Martin’ illusion unnecessarily.
The open-gear machines themselves are also not the smoothest in operation either – in fact the D string required a fair bit of effort to get moving. Once they do move, the tuners are accurate and solid, but they’re clearly lacking in lubrication – this is an easy fix of course, but something that I’ve seen across multiple Road Series guitars now, so it’s not an isolated incident.
Image: Adam Gasson
Martin 000-10E Retro – build quality and playability
The Dreadnought might be Martin’s most iconic and popular guitar, but there’s an argument to be made that the 000 is the best all-round flat-top acoustic guitar that they (or anyone else for that matter) has come up with over the last 200-odd years.
The magic of a good 000 is the way it really can handle anything you throw at it – whether that’s vigorous strumming, delicate fingerpicking, intricate flatpicking… it will throw it all back to you with projection, clarity and warmth.
No, it doesn’t shout as loud as a dread and if you’re trying to entertain a room of people without any sort of amplification you’re going to struggle… but who’s actually doing that in 2026, really?
The 000-10E Retro’s first strum is once again a sign of good things to come, open chords have a wonderfully mid-rich, produced quality to them that allows every string to be heard with clarity. It doesn’t have the rumbling power of a bigger-bodied guitar in the low end, but it actually makes those heavier strings vibrate with less muddiness as a result.
There’s a real zip and percussiveness to proceedings – especially on the unwound strings – and this makes for an easy fingerpicker. It might not have the single-note projection to make it a flat-picking mainstay, but there’s plenty to enjoy here nonetheless.
Plugged in, I’m seriously impressed with the quality of the E1 system’s replication of that warm, mid-focused tonality – it doesn’t really require any tweaking on the amp to sound fantastic, and it’s clear that whether mic’d or going direct, this would be a fantastic recording guitar.
It handles altered tunings well enough, and DADGAD opens up some rich harmonic territory here for sure – the shorter scale length of a 000 means it’s perhaps not the most adept guitar for more esoteric altered tunings and taking those top strings way down, but it’ll get you there in a pinch.
Martin 000-10E Retro – should I buy one?
There’s no escaping the fact that 000-10E Retro is a fantastic instrument – one that authentically distils everything that’s great about 000 guitars in a package that looks and plays much better than its sub-$1,000 price tag should suggest.
Of all the new Road Series guitars, I think the Retro guitars are going to find the most willing audiences for exactly that reason – aside from an under-lubricated tuner, there’s not much here to make you feel like you’re not playing a more expensive Nazareth-made guitar.
The new toned tops mean that it also looks the part in a way that is, let’s face it, hugely compelling. And as always with the Road Series, the all-solid construction means that you can bet a fair chunk of change that, like a solid-wood acoustic guitar, it’s gonna sound better and better the more you play it – it’s just had a bit of a head start in the looks department. Killer.
Martin 000-10E Retro – alternatives
If you’re just after a good-sounding, good-looking (but not AS good-looking) 000 with Martin on the headstock and you wanna save yourself a quarter of the price, the solid-topped 000-X2E ($749/£775) is a rock-solid instrument for stage and home use. Another beautiful all-solid spruce/sapele orchestra model is the very impressive Eastman E1OM ($699/£599). You’ll be looking at something in the northern reaches of two grand for a bona fide spruce-topped Martin 000 from Nazareth, but if you simply have to have US build and wanna save some pennies, the 000-15M ($1,799/£1,799) is not totally out of reach – it’s a very different (but still brilliant) sonic beast, however.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
